SHANE JENNINGS SUSPENSION:THE APPEAL by Leinster flanker Shane Jennings may be heard as early as Thursday of this week, most likely in Dublin.
While the province have not yet received a written decision from the ERC following last week’s disciplinary hearing, which handed down a 12-week ban to Jennings for coming into contact with the eye area of London Irish secondrow Nick Kennedy, they are expected to do so no later than today.
On receipt of the written decision from the ERC, Leinster have 72 hours to lodge the appeal.
If they lodge the appeal today, it is likely to be heard on Thursday.
Jennings’s suspension was seen as harsh in many quarters, not least of all from the Irish Rugby Union Players Association (Irupa), whose chief executive, Niall Woods, called on the International Rugby Board (IRB) to review the process and asked for much greater transparency in how disciplinary hearings come to decide on the length of ban handed out to players.
The length of Jennings’s suspension also ensures the backrow will miss out on Ireland’s Test matches next month against Australia, Fiji and South Africa, as well as the next series of Heineken Cup matches in December. He will not be allowed play until early January.
Kennedy, whose evidence was heard at the first hearing, admitted to his London Irish captain, Bob Casey, he had over-reacted to the incident during their first-round Heineken Cup match at the RDS.
Other than concerns over Jennings’s short-term future, coach Michael Cheika’s Leinster squad can relax in the knowledge that no player picked up any injury of significance in their win against Brive in France on Saturday.
That, combined with London Irish shipping a defeat at the weekend to Llanelli Scarlets, puts a much different complexion on the scrambling for points in Pool Six, where Leinster sit second on five points.
There was initial concern over hooker Bernard Jackman when he was replaced by John Fogarty after 47 minutes. But it has been confirmed he only suffered a stinger and is expected to be available for Leinster’s next match in the Magners League, against Ulster at Ravenhill at the weekend.
South African prop CJ van der Linde, who played in his first match since January, also came through the weekend without further injury.
As of yesterday the ERC had not received any correspondence from a citation officer with regard to the Leinster match in Brive.
There had been speculation that an issue might have arisen following Andy Goode’s scuffle with Brian O’Driscoll, however the ERC have stated they had received nothing in that regard.
